The prior art granule application device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,869, issued Oct. 23, 1984. Related disclosures appear in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,669,166, issued May 8, 1928; 2,111,565, issued Mar. 22, 1938; 2,160,787, issued May 30, 1939; 2,211,204, issued Aug. 13, 1940; 2,233,122, issued Feb. 25, 1941; 2,356,570, issued Aug. 22, 1944; 2,400,746, issued May 21, 1946; 2,661,303, issued Dec. 1, 1953; 3,132,964, issued May 12, 1964; 3,184,324, issued May 18, 1965; and 4,352,837, issued Oct. 5, 1982.
The prior art granule application devices generally include a blender applicator with a recycle applicator disposed immediately downstream of the applicator and a sheet for travelling under these applicators to receive the granules.
One of the basic problems with the prior art granule application device is that a substantial volume of expensive granules from the blender applicator have to be recycled into a recycle applicator from the travelling sheet.